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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
-
- Tags
- club thunderbird
Pretty easy to get nasty and unseemly 'round here. No wonder the general population is afraid of us!Oh, behave... You dirty minx!
Well, that and all these deadly Birds of Thunder.
- Jul 1, 2005
- 4,291
- 21,932
- 79
- Disclosures
- CataldoBasses: Designer/Builder ThunderBuckerPickups:Consultant
Fall is here and the 'birds are beginning to fly south...
Haji
Supporting Member
I need to get a job soon. One of Carlo's Birds needs to stay at my place.
Looks great, brother! I love Cataldo head stocks because they don't look like a cheese knife.
Looks great, brother! I love Cataldo head stocks because they don't look like a cheese knife.
I like the Gibson headstock, I actually like it with the modern black tuners too, it has a contained look where the tuner tops continue the imaginary line over the top cutout
I've not long had this Epiphone Classic. Here it is next to a Jim Fleeting custom (British luthier).
The Classic is probably one/or maybe the most powerful passive basses I've had. I was very surprised by the tb+ pickups.
The bridge was replaced with the supertone as seems to be the normal. An extra strap button added and the knobs replaced with the standard epiphone tbird knobs, which I think look pretty cool.
Its a fantastic bass but I do wish it was a Gibson (maybe i'm a brand snob lol) even though its arguably just as good as the more expensive Gibson.
I'm tempted to spray over the poly a lightly tinted nitro finish and adding appropriate coloured (cream or black) small chicken head knobs. Any views on that?
The Classic is probably one/or maybe the most powerful passive basses I've had. I was very surprised by the tb+ pickups.
The bridge was replaced with the supertone as seems to be the normal. An extra strap button added and the knobs replaced with the standard epiphone tbird knobs, which I think look pretty cool.
Its a fantastic bass but I do wish it was a Gibson (maybe i'm a brand snob lol) even though its arguably just as good as the more expensive Gibson.
I'm tempted to spray over the poly a lightly tinted nitro finish and adding appropriate coloured (cream or black) small chicken head knobs. Any views on that?
Congratulations on the new Bird, the classics are cracking instruments end of. I have a classic and a Gibson Bird and there's next to nothing between them other than price/tuners and lacquer. Just enjoy it for what it is, a Gibson in all but name and you can afford to buy three for the cost of the US made versionI've not long had this Epiphone Classic. Here it is next to a Jim Fleeting custom (British luthier).
The Classic is probably one/or maybe the most powerful passive basses I've had. I was very surprised by the tb+ pickups.
The bridge was replaced with the supertone as seems to be the normal. An extra strap button added and the knobs replaced with the standard epiphone tbird knobs, which I think look pretty cool.
Its a fantastic bass but I do wish it was a Gibson (maybe i'm a brand snob lol) even though its arguably just as good as the more expensive Gibson.
I'm tempted to spray over the poly a lightly tinted nitro finish and adding appropriate coloured (cream or black) small chicken head knobs. Any views on that?
Thanks for the recommendation of the Pacato plugs, @Haji. They look similar to the flanges I have on some Shure ear buds. I was using some crappy ear plugs, when jamming this summer, that I got at Home Depot. I kept taking them out as I couldn't get a good read on my sound.
I got a pack of foam Hearos, but I only use then for sleeping. They're softer and more comfortable to wear than the Home Depot foam plugs.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I use those orange foam plugs all the time. Especially when playing drums. Being able to hear is great.
I've not long had this Epiphone Classic. Here it is next to a Jim Fleeting custom (British luthier).
The Classic is probably one/or maybe the most powerful passive basses I've had. I was very surprised by the tb+ pickups.
The bridge was replaced with the supertone as seems to be the normal. An extra strap button added and the knobs replaced with the standard epiphone tbird knobs, which I think look pretty cool.
Its a fantastic bass but I do wish it was a Gibson (maybe i'm a brand snob lol) even though its arguably just as good as the more expensive Gibson.
I'm tempted to spray over the poly a lightly tinted nitro finish and adding appropriate coloured (cream or black) small chicken head knobs. Any views on that?
Congrats and welcome! I think the Classic IV is in every way equal to its USA counterpart (actually, I think its a little bit better than what's been coming out of Gibson in recent years, but don't tell anybody I said that!).
I can't agree that the Classics are better than the Gibsons I have (two Gibsons, '13 and '14... and two Classics here,) but they're pretty close... especially considering the prices.
Haji
Supporting Member
My beef with current Gibsons is that they're pushing 600 instruments a week out of a factory designed for 400 a week. If you buy a new one, examine it VERY closely, specifically for finish flaws. Gibson's pre-finish sanding has been generally poor for the last, oh, 30 years. You'll see this as ripples in the finish and bubbles in the finish at joints like where the neck and body meet.
Yup. Gibson guitars are my favorite designs, I always end up perusing them when I'm in a shop. The high end ones and custom shop models are some of the nicest instruments I've seen. But their mid-level offerings and under just have abysmal finish issues. I'd only buy Gibson in person, trying it in store. Even my Zebrabird has finish issues, namely near where the fingerboard ends there's some discoloration to the finish, which is almost impressive given that the model doesn't even have a clear coat (natural wood with oil finish I believe). It almost looks like someone got a bit to overzealous with the sanding. My 90s Epiphone Les Paul Elite (semi-hollow Les Paul Custom) is nicer than many mid-range Gibsons I've seen in the last decade.
@Haji, are these ripples and bubbles something that happens to the finish over time? I have two American-made Gibsons: a 2015 T-bird and a gold top Les Paul Studio 60s Tribute (with the raunchy P90s). The finish is great on both. Fingers crossed that they will be robust over time.
In other news, I am not sure if we have many/any Iggy and the Stooges fans here but I just saw that director Jim Jarmusch recently made a documentary on them, which is going to be released later this month: Trailer - Gimme Danger
In other news, I am not sure if we have many/any Iggy and the Stooges fans here but I just saw that director Jim Jarmusch recently made a documentary on them, which is going to be released later this month: Trailer - Gimme Danger
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"In other news, I am not sure if we have many/any Iggy and the Stooges fans here but I just saw that director Jim Jarmusch recently made a documentary on them, which is going to be released later this month: Trailer - Gimme Danger"
Stooges **and** Jarmusch? Could only be improved with narration in Finnish.
Update: no idea what happened there
Stooges **and** Jarmusch? Could only be improved with narration in Finnish.
Update: no idea what happened there
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Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
The finish flaws apparent in the Gibsons I own are the result of use and abuse. Or maybe I'm not all that picky. The only one that has some questionable finish and shaping is the 2013 EB, and that's where the upper horns blend to the neck. It's just shaped weirdly, but 7enders are sometimes shaped weirdly there, too. The infamous router hump. It's probably something like that. As far as the unfilled grain, it doesn't bother me. The other potential finish issue that doesn't bother me is the unpolished fret ends. The frets are accurate and level, but the ends could be smoother. That's all I can think of. I have a 2013 EB and a 2015 Thunderbird to represent recent Gibsons. Older Gibsons are a late 60s EB-2dc, a '91 Thunderbird, and a 2001 Thunderbird. They all show signs of use, rash, dents, and the little bruises that slowly accrue on an instrument that gets a lot of playing time over the years, but nothing that I would object to as a factory flaw. I'm sure there are flawed instruments out there, but I have been lucky that way.
